Personal BC Tax Rates To Drop

It was announced that a 15 per cent reduction in personal income tax rates (for the first $72,000 of personal income for all British Columbians) if passed by the legislature, will come into effective Jan. 1 2011. This tax relief measure, if passed, means B.C. individuals pay the lowest provincial income tax in Canada, on incomes up to $130,000.

Subject to legislative approval, the new 15 per cent rate reduction applies to earnings up to $72, 293, and is effective Jan. 1, 2011. That tax relief will save individual B.C. taxpayers up to $616 annually.

 

The Premier also laid out three new steps the Province will take to enhance early childhood learning and ensure B.C. students are entering school ready to learn and meeting targets for reading, writing and math. 

 20% of Grade 4 Students Are Failing

“Right now in British Columbia one in five students who complete Grade 4 do not read, write or have math skills at a Grade 4 level. It’s important for us to find ways to help that 20 per cent of students do better. We know the answer is to invest in early childhood learning,” said Premier Campbell. “It’s important that we make sure that every one of our children is lifted up to take full advantage of the opportunities that lie before them.”

New education measures announced by the Premier are:

• Build an additional 100 StrongStart BC early learning centres, which provide school-based early learning services for adults and their young children, aged birth to five years, at no cost to families.
• Beginning next school year, the Province will conduct early childhood learning assessments for every five-year-old child entering Kindergarten to tailor educational programs to meet their learning needs.
• A commitment to ensure that, within the next five years, every child that graduates from Grade 4 in B.C. will be reading, writing and doing math at a Grade 4 level.

“These new measures are important steps to build confidence in B.C.’s middle income families,” said Premier Campbell. “I know many families are living paycheque-to-paycheque. This tax relief means that all taxpayers will have more take-home pay. It will help families with their home economies and, as it does, it will help stimulate the provincial economy